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 Westlife were born in 1998 when Boyzone's manager, Louis Walsh, teamed up with Ronan Keating to manage anew Irish pop group made up of five guys. These five guys were Shane Filan, Mark Feehilly and Kian Egan from Sligo in the west of Ireland and Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden from Dublin. The group (originally known as Westside) toured the UK and Ireland with Boyzone in November 1998 and stunned audiences on the Smash Hits Tour around the UK, winning "Best New Tour Act" at the Smash Hits Awards in November 1998. However, the group were obliged to change their name from Westside to Westlife early in 1999 when it was discovered that a number of existing bands and many merchandising companies in America with the same name. Undeterred, Westlife went on to release their first single "Swear it Again" in April 1999 which went straight to the top of the British and Irish charts, becoming the biggest-selling debut single *ever* in Ireland. Westlife are currently about to release their second single "If I Let You Go" which looks as it it's going to be as successful as their first single! Their eagerly-awaited debut album is expected to be released in the UK in October. With a strong management team behind them, soulful harmonies, angelic voice and drop-dead good looks, Westlife look set to become the next big thing in the world of pop. It all started off in a place called Sligo in the north west of Ireland, when Kian, Shane and Mark were in a band called IOU. They put out an independant single and Shane's mother passed it on to Louis Walsh, who manages Boyzone. They eventually got in touch with him last February. Louis then got them a support slot with the Backstreet Boys, but he didn't want to manage them at the time because he was too busy with Boyzone. Once he saw them on stage, he changed his mind. The band then dropped three of the other members from IOU, brought in Nicky and Bryan, changed their name to Westside and took it from there. Ronan Keating from the very well known Irish band, Boyzone, is Westlife's co-manager. This came about when he was introduced to them by Louis Walsh. Ronan signed the group onto RCA Records, but they realized that another American group had the name Westside, so they finally changed it to Westlife. The lads opened for the Boyzone tour and won the Smash Hits Best New Tour Act Award in 1998. In April 1999, Westlife released their first single "Swear It Again" which immediately raced up the charts and across the world. And now.....well.....take a look at them now! |
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This page was last updated on Friday, June 08, 2001 |
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© May, 2001 by Jennifer Mirhan |
Westlife Story 
